Scent with Love

So, as is true to my "can't leave well enough alone" nature, I'm dabbling in yet another past time, which is aromatherapy. Actually, I've been interested in essential oils for almost 2 decades, ever since I majored in botany in college and took some courses focused on the human uses of medicinal plants, and on the phytochemicals in plants that give them their various aromatic and medicinal properties. I've also dabbled in homemade soap and lotion-making over the course of the last decade and the use of essential oils in those crafts, so I suppose this really isn't all that new, after all, just a resurgence of an interest.

So I'm rambling on about this interest in fragrance, and I'm sure you're wondering what that has to do with sponsoring children through Compassion. It occurred to me as I have been accumulating the supplies to make some scented necklaces, handmade soap, and handmade lotion bars for my Compassion ETSY store that certain fragrances instill an immediate sense of peace in me. For me, patchouli is a scent that is forever relaxing because I associate it with carefree college years (my husband, on the other hand, detests it). I also love the scent of suntan lotion because I recall summers on the beach in Florida with my family. The smell of cinnamon and oranges reminds me of Christmas, while the sweet, woodsy smell of Balsam Fir, quite possibly my favorite smell in the entire world, reminds me of quite walks in the woods on a warm day, no worries, and a deep connection to nature and to God.

If fragrance evokes such warm, deep memories (and countless research proves it does), then why not use fragrance to scent our sponsored child's world? No doubt our sponsored kids are surrounded by pungent scents of their own that evoke memories, hopes, dreams... but what if we introduce our own scent story to our kids, sending a little piece of scent that they associate with love, with hope, with uplifting strength? Forevermore they will associate that with a sense of well-being, of being cared for and loved. What a special gift, all in an aroma!

So...how to do that when we can only send paper? Here's my plan, and maybe you'll want to do it, too.  I am going to spend some time thinking about what scent describes me. I am going to play around with my essential oils (maybe you have a perfume you love to wear, or maybe the warm smell of cinnamon or vanilla extract makes you swoon), and when I find just the "right" scent, I'm going to stick a cotton ball with several drops of this oil in a plastic bag with my writing paper, stickers, bookmarks, etc.  Leave the paper in the bag for a while and...voila! You have lightly scented paper that will waft out when your child opens the bag.

I'll explain in the letter that I've scented the paper with my favorite scent, one that fills me with hope. Maybe for you it would be the frankincense and myrrh gifted to Jesus on his birthday, or pungent peppermint. Maybe soothing lavender or uplifting orange.

Anyway, I think it's a pretty neat idea to send a fragrant message of hope to our kids in another place. And who knows--maybe the older kids will return the favor by scenting their paper with the spicy fragrance of India or the Jasmine air of Thailand!

Happy Monday!

PS... Look for my scented necklaces on my Compassion ETSY store next week, and soaps and lotions late summer!

Looking for Great Goodies for your Kids?? Dover has 70% Off Right Now!!!

I'm always looking for great stuff to send my Compassion kids. Dover is one of my very favorite companies (I feature a lot of their free samples in my downloadable sponsor packets), and right now they have a 70% off sale going on!

I really encourage you to check it out--I was able to snag a ton of sticker books for just 45 cents each--you can't even get that at the dollar store!  Stock up for Christmas and Easter mailings now, because it'll be time to mail for Christmas in just a month or two (can you believe that???)!

www.doverpublications.com---just click on the 70% off sale banner!

Here are some examples of the great 45 cent goodies I picked up today!

Compassion Garage Sale!

Saturday came and went, along with our Compassion Garage Sale! I teamed up with a friend and fellow sponsor, Sarah, and her family to host a garage sale to raise money for Compassion. First, let me say that I'm horrible about taking photos so, sadly, I have none to show for our hard work. And second, garage sales really ARE hard work!! I started getting items ready for the sale several weeks ago, hauling things out of the attic, cleaning them off, going through drawers and toy boxes and closets and those dusty spots under the bed looking for all the trash-to-treasure items I could find.

What resulted was a driveway packed full of everything from baby clothes to bouncers and swings to household cleaning tools (unfortunately they requre operators, so they don't get used much in my house, hahaha). Sarah's family contributed a load of great stuff, too.

One thing I've noticed--if you advertise your sale to begin at 9, prepare for folks to show up at 8. We were still desperately gulping coffee and hanging signs and Compassion banners when the first buyers made an appearance at ten minutes to 8, and I thought we still had a hour before it started...silly me! Also, though the sale was set to end at 1, we had some folks shopping until 1:45, which was fine by me, because none of that stuff was coming back through the door to my house!!

In the end we ended up making about $330 for Compassion, which I thought was amazing considering my last yard sale barely netted $80! If you'd like to host a yard sale for Compassion, I do have a few simple tips to make things a bit more fun/easier...

1. Team up with another family--it was awesome to have fun company, and our kids were able to entertain each other--I was worried my toddler would get bored and whiney but he had so much fun he cried when it was over!

2. Set up as much as you can the night before, then just move the whole set-up table out to your driveway the next morning.

3. Advertise-ALOT. I wish I had advertised more.

4. Set up a Goodwill truck to pick up stuff when your sale is over. We did not and I desperately wish we had. Now I have to do drop offs today!

5. Serve snacks. I picked up some donut holes and cookies on sale at the grocery store and had water available for people. This made a big impression and people were really grateful-it was a very hot day.

I'm so thrilled we were able to clear out some items we don't use any more and help Compassion at the same time!! The money will go to the at-risk children fun and the child survival programs fund.

Treasure Every Moment

This morning the DJ on the Christian radio station I was listening to was describing how he was feeling about his son's graduation from high school. He was reminding parents everywhere about how quickly time passes, and how your children grow so fast. How often we (I) forget to treasure every moment and to let go of some things in order to appreciate the people we love most.

Dharavi Slum in Mumbai - from Wikimedia Commons

To me, this includes my Compassion children. I get so busy during the week trying to do a billion other things that sometimes I forget to just be thankful for all that I have in my life...not things, but people. I'm so thankful for my sweet son, and all the joy he brings to my heart. I'm grateful to my beautiful Compassion children for making me a better person, one day at a time.

Last night I took some time to sit down with my special notebook that I keep full of my Compassion kids' photos and letters, and to reread the letters I've received so far. I was blessed again and again as I reread each letter and planned what to mail them this week.

Do you write to your sponsored children? Again and again Center directors and pastors, Compassion workers, and the children who have graduated from the program tell us how much it means to sponsored children to hear from their sponsors on a regular basis. And the blessings extend both ways--through the preparations of reading past letters, praying over your children, and writing to them you are developing relationships--between you and your Compassion children and between you and God.

Jesus' ministry was about relationships. He came to save the world, but while he was hear on earth he worked through relationships, one person at a time. He took the time to hold a hand, speak a kind word (or sometimes a stern word), to teach, to laugh, and to love. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, that is our ministry, as well. These are treasures stored up in heaven. We have this moment only once.

If you haven't written your child in a while, please take a few minutes today and do so. You can use Compassion's online writing tool or you can download one of my free sponsor writing packets. Either way, it's easy--all it takes is a few minutes.

If you haven't sponsored a child yet, what are you waiting for? A sweet little face out there is waiting for your prayers, your love, your encouragement. Can you be the hands and feet of Christ to that child? Poverty stinks, but YOU can change the story. Think you can't afford it? Check out this awesome post on Red Letter Christians and think twice: http://www.redletterchristians.org/spoiled-witches-puerile-vanity-and-compassion-international/

Nine Ways to Explore Your Sponsored Child's World Without Leaving Home

On the Our Compassion sponsor site I've seen wonder how to relate to their sponsored kids. It's true, we are insulated within our 21st-century first-world lifestyles, now. It wasn't so long ago, however, that our grandparents (or even parents!) were walking to and from the well to draw water, or were heating water over a wood stove for a bath, or were washing clothes in the river or going hungry because there were too many mouths to feed and drought killed the first harvest. The days of one-room schoolhouses with no heat or air aren't that far behind us. Grueling chores, farm work, carting produce to market, kids dropping out of school to support the family--that was the norm in rural American life not all that long ago. How quickly we forget!

I've found a few ways to feel more connected to my sponsored kids, and I wanted to share them here. I hope you'll use those you find intriguing to help forge a stronger connection with your sponsored kids. And, if you have the chance, be sure to sit down with the elderly members of your family and ask them what life was like when they were kids...chances are, you'll notice some similarities between their lives and those of the children you touch through your loving sponsorship.

1)  Google Earth - I love Google Earth. If you haven't ever played with it, it's a free download you can install on your computer that allows you to see satellite images on a round globe. You simply type in a location and hit "search" and the program will zoom in on your chosen location. I like to turn on the "photo" feature (on the left-hand sidebar), and find the town or city where my child lives. I explore the town through the photo feature, often looking at the location of the center they attend (you can find the location of your child's center on the OurCompassion website). It's a bit like visiting your child without the cost of a plane ticket! I have learned alot about the types of housing, the communities, the traffic, the vegetation, and the road systems of the kids we sponsor through my Google Earth "travels." In some areas, you can even fly over the city in 3D, with a "tour guide" to point out famous landmarks!

2) Read a Book - I adore the library. Where else can you walk in a room, pick out something you want, and walk out with it without paying a dime???  One of the best ways to understand our sponsored child's community, culture, and situation is to read. I love to read, so I devour books about India, Africa, and Central America at my house, as well as books about poverty, in general. There are many great books about poverty, about the horrible trafficking happening world-wide...and I encourage you to read those...but also take the time to read some less depressing information about the culture your child lives in. Travel guides are GREAT ways to explore the heritage sites in your child's country. If you have children, use these travel guides to make posters at home, printing photos from the internet, as though you've visited the country. Make a scrapbook of your "travels"! Lonely Planet guide to Bogota, Colombia: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/bogota

3) Cook a Meal - Food transcends language. You can relate to your child by learning about the foods they love and cooking those foods at home for your family. Try something new! Ask your child what their favorite food or snack is, and try to make it at your home....then tell your sponsored child what you thought about it! Take pictures of you trying it out! Your sponsored child will probably think it's funny that you tried their favorite meal. Recipes from Guatemala, where one of my sponsored children lives: http://www.food.com/recipes/guatemalan

Fried Plantains--common to Central America (and SO yummy)

4) Subscribe to the Compassion Explorer Magazine. I love this magazine. It is geared towards kids in elementary school, but I'm not ashamed to say that I like to read it just as much as kids that age do! It's FREE and each issue contains crafts, stories from the kids in various countries that are sponsored through Compassion, recipes, and other ideas for great ways to connect with your sponsored kids and kids of all ages!

5) Play a game. Does your sponsored child have a favorite game or hobby? Give it a try! This is especially great if you have kids or if you are college/high-school age. Drop the pretenses and get a group together to try a traditional Indian past time, or play soccer using a ball made from rags or plastic bags tied together with twine. Take photos and send them to your sponsored child! Some examples from India: http://www.ehow.com/list_6109478_india-games-kids.html

6) Listen to Music. Pandora is a great, free way to explore music from other cultures. Download Pandora to your computer or phone and type in your child's country. Music, like food, transcends language and speaks to the heart. Use that as a jumping off point to ask your sponsored child about their musical interests, and to share yours.

7) Visit the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) website. This somewhat well-hidden website is a treasure-trove of information about the countries Compassion works in. The site contains statistics about poverty and hunger, information about the natural resources of countries, rural and social development, and photos and other information, as well as publications. For example, here is a link to the FAO interactive Hunger Map: http://www.fao.org/hunger/en/.  Here is a link to the FAO country page for Togo, one of the African countries I sponsor in: http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index/en/?iso3=TGO, which contains not only statistics but also news feeds with information about events in the country.

8) Search the Library of Congress website. Another great resource for free information, free videos, free movies, photos, and much more!  Here is a link to the LOC World History & Cultures page: http://www.loc.gov/topics/worldhistory.php

9) Watch a travel documentary or youtube video! Travel documentaries abound, and there are even clips on youtube from many countries...Instead of the latest Dancing with the Stars, sit down to a travel documentary of your child's country! What a great way to visit without leaving your living room! Free online travel documentaries: http://documentarystorm.com/category/culture/travel/; Free Documentary on PBS about how our American cotton subsidies contribute to poverty in Burkina Faso, a Compassion country: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/310/

I hope these have given you some thoughts about interesting and unusual ways to be more in tune with your sponsored children and their cultures and lives!

Prayers for Oklahoma

Early this week a massive tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma. My prayers and heartache are with those who suffered great loss, whether through the loss of their homes or the loss of a loved one. Please remember those families as you go about your daily routine this week. It's a reminder that life can change at a moment's notice for any of us, so live in this moment as fully and completely as possible.

Six Thousand Prayers

Six thousand days. That's roughly how many days a mother has with a child if she can keep watch over them a full 18 years. Six thousand days...sounds like a lot but what a precious short time to share love, impart self worth, instill faith and compassion, joy and memories. Six thousand days full or prayers and kisses, hugs and whispers, hopes and dreams.

What happens to the children without a parent, or a parent who leaves or dies too soon, or a parent who just doesn't care? Six thousand days of loneliness. Six thousand empty nights, waiting for a word of hope. Six thousand prayers for someone to love them, give them encouragement. Six thousand prayers for someone like me or you to reach out and share out richly blessed lives.

Please sponsor a child today. There are six thousand reasons you'll be glad you did.